The Y2K Turbine Superbike can go 250 mph.
Moving Machines: Chopper Power
August 21, 2002
If the notion of riding a 460-pound motorcycle powered by a turbine engine that lifts 10,000-pound helicopters seems implausible, ask Jay Leno what it’s like; he’s one of the few riders who has experienced the sensation. “It feels like the hand of God is pushing you,” Leno says.
Leno owns a Marine Turbine Technologies’ Y2K Turbine Superbike, a motorcycle with an Allison Rolls-Royce diesel engine. More people have flown into space than have ridden the jet-driven motorcycle. Marine Turbine Technologies has built only seven of the machines so far, with three more on order.
A turbine-powered $150,000 motorcycle capable of 260 mph might seem like a novelty machine—a bike to be ridden several times a year to draw oohs and aahs from gawkers—but the Y2K bike is a practical, street-legal motorcycle that can be ridden comfortably every day. “It’s the fastest motorcycle in the world, and it is as simple to ride as a moped,” says Mark Ghiglieri, a Portland, Ore., resident who owns a Y2K.
Throw a leg over the bike, reach forward to grab the low handlebars, and turn the key to light up the dash. Push the starter button, and the engine awakens with a whirring that grows in volume and intensity as the turbine speeds up. At 15,000 rpm, the igniter starts to burn the fuel, and the loud whine morphs into a gentle roar. When the tachometer reaches the 23,000-rpm idle speed, the engine shouts a high-pitched blast that causes onlookers to peer toward the sky, searching for the helicopter they expect to land nearby.
advertisement
